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A recently released agreement gives the Department of Homeland Security access to hundreds of millions of Americans' Social Security data, raising concerns about voter misidentification and potential disenfranchisement. The use of this data for voter verification has been criticized by experts, who warn that it poses significant risks to American democracy.
The Trump administration's SAVE system allows DHS to access hundreds of millions of Americans' Social Security data for citizenship verification. The agreement contains few provisions to prevent errors and disenfranchise legitimate voters, raising concerns about accuracy and privacy. The use of Social Security data in the SAVE system could lead to voter misidentification and widespread disenfranchisement. Experts warn that mismatches between datasets could disenfranchise legitimate voters, highlighting the need for robust safeguards. The Trump administration's data-pooling drive poses significant risks to American democracy due to lack of transparency and accountability.
In a shocking revelation, it has come to light that the Trump administration's sweeping data-sharing agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) poses a significant threat to American democracy. The agreement, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, allows DHS to access hundreds of millions of Americans' Social Security data in order to verify their citizenship status.
According to sources, including the ACLU and ProPublica, the SAVE system has been criticized for its lack of guardrails to ensure accuracy and privacy. The agreement contains alarmingly few provisions to prevent errors and disenfranchise legitimate voters. Furthermore, experts warn that the use of Social Security data in this manner could lead to a significant increase in voter misidentification, potentially resulting in widespread disenfranchisement.
At its core, the SAVE system is designed to help DHS identify potential non-citizens on voting rolls, with the aim of preventing illicit voting and stiffening immigration enforcement. However, experts argue that the use of Social Security data to achieve this goal is a recipe for disaster.
One of the primary concerns is that people's names can be misspelled or listed differently in various datasets, leading to mismatches that could disenfranchise legitimate voters. Additionally, many states collect partial, not full, Social Security numbers from voters, which makes matches even less accurate.
For instance, Jane Smith, a citizen of the United States, would not want to be disenfranchised by mistake if there is another Jane Smith who is not a citizen. This highlights the need for robust safeguards to prevent such errors and ensure that legitimate voters are not mistakenly identified as non-citizens.
Furthermore, experts warn that the use of Social Security data in this manner could have far-reaching consequences, including the potential for widespread voter suppression and erosion of trust in the electoral process.
As one expert noted, "If there's Jane Smith that is a citizen, and a Jane Smith that isn't, you don't want to disenfranchise the citizen Jane Smith by accident." This sentiment is echoed by others who have expressed concerns about the use of Social Security data in this manner.
In addition to these concerns, experts also warn that the Trump administration's data-pooling drive, which has sought to tap all sorts of traditionally tightly controlled federal information, including tax data, poses significant risks to American democracy. The lack of transparency and accountability in this drive has led many to question the true motives behind it.
As ProPublica reported earlier, DHS officials have already run over 33 million voters through the SAVE system, with initial results showing that 96.3% of those checked were identified as U.S. citizens. However, experts warn that these results are likely incomplete and may not reflect the full picture.
The use of passport information from the State Department in the SAVE system is also a cause for concern, as it could potentially lead to further errors and disenfranchisement.
In conclusion, while the Trump administration's push to harness data from across federal agencies may have seemed like a good idea on paper, its implementation has been marred by controversy and concerns about accuracy and privacy. As Americans move forward in this tumultuous period of American politics, it is essential that we prioritize transparency and accountability in our electoral processes.
A recently released agreement gives the Department of Homeland Security access to hundreds of millions of Americans' Social Security data, raising concerns about voter misidentification and potential disenfranchisement. The use of this data for voter verification has been criticized by experts, who warn that it poses significant risks to American democracy.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/The-Dark-Side-of-SAVE-How-Trumps-Administration-is-Threatening-American-Democracy-ehn.shtml
https://www.propublica.org/article/dhs-social-security-data-voter-citizenship-trump
Published: Thu Oct 30 05:45:03 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M